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Bell activists now want entire City Council to resign [Updated]

After watching as the top administrators in Bell resigned in the face of growing anger over high salaries, activists in Bell have asked the mayor and three other council members to step down.

Members of the group The Bell Assn. to Stop the Abuse said they would drop their demand only if council members agreed to slash their own paychecks to be on par with Councilman Lorenzo Velez, the fifth member of the council.

[For the record: An early version of this reported that the activists asked the entire council to step down]

While four council members make nearly $100,000 a year for their part-time work, Velez draws a salary of about $8,000.

Vice Mayor Teresa Jacobo said Velez is paid less because he was appointed, not elected. Velez said he was unaware his colleagues were so highly compensated until he read a report in The Times.

The activist group BASTA – “enough” in Spanish – was formed after The Times reported that the top administrators in Bell were among the most highly paid municipal employees in the nation. City Administrator Robert Rizzo makes nearly $800,000 a year, twice the pay for President Obama. Police Chief Randy Adams and Assistant City Administrator Angela Spaccia earn $457,000 and $376,288, respectively.

During an hours-long closed-door meeting Thursday, all three agreed to resign.